I think there may have been a marine layer over town during the night (or early morning), since I didn’t see blue skies when I first looked out the window not long after sunrise. When I got up later in the morning, it was sunny, with just some wisps of lower clouds around Gavan Hill.
Shortly after lunch, I stepped outside to enjoy the sun for a few moments, and happened to catch a streak of a bird flying through the yard. From the slightly better look I got as it banked and flew down Park Street, it appeared to be a Sharp-shinned Hawk or possibly Merlin.
Having been on a call throughout the morning, after I took Connor to the bank (so he could get a checking account set up) I wanted to check the Pioneer Home hedge where a flock of Pine Grosbeaks had been reported.
I found 8 of them there feeding on the seeds in last year’s rose hips. They were all orange (I had been hoping to find a red one in the mix as well). Apparently used to people at this point, I was able to watch one of them from closer than my camera would focus (about 6 ft).
The snow-covered mountains were quite striking against the blue sky, but I did notice some wind-blown snow coming off the mountain peaks. (I feel like I remember my grandpa first pointing out the phenomenon of snow blowing off mountain peaks many years ago, but I’m not sure when he would have done so, as he usually visited August or October – neither are times when that’s likely to occur.)
I didn’t see the rosy-finches on a drive out to Silver Bay. There were some whitecaps on the the bay, but it didn’t seem too windy.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
